Scottish Medieval Bibliography

Languages

Below are published resources for the different languages that were spoken at one time or another during the Middle Ages in the area that is now Scotland. (More resources will be added as time permits.) Sections marked www in the index to this page include links to texts available online. See also the Literature and Published Primary Sources sections of this bibliography.

Quin, E. G., et al., eds. Dictionary of the Irish Language Based Mainly On Old And Middle Irish Materials. Compact ed. 1983. Reprint, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy, 1998. Original edition, 1913-1976. Amazon.com - Amazon.co.uk - Barnes&Noble
Sometimes familiarly referred to as the "DIL", this is the equivalent of the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) for medieval Gaelic; it includes datable example quotes of Early Gaelic (600-900) and Middle Gaelic (900-1200) words.

Krossa, Sharon L. Pronunciation of Scottish Gaelic Consonants (Draft Edition). WWW: Medieval Scotland, 19 Nov 2005. URL: <http://MedievalScotland.org/lang/gaelicconsonants.shtml>.
The spelling and pronunciation of consonants in modern Scottish Gaelic (which can reasonably be used as an approximation of the pronunciation of consonants in late medieval/early modern Gaelic). This article uses technical phonetic terminology to describe the sounds and although it does explain this terminology, I still recommend those not already familiar with formal phonetics read Heather Rose Jones' "Linguistics for Heralds" first if possible. (Unfortunately, at the moment I cannot find an online version of Linguistics for Heralds, but when I do I will provide a link here.)

Scots developed out of the northern dialects of Old English as spoken in Scotland, while what became the standard language in England developed out of the southern dialects of Old English. Although modernly both Scots and English are spoken in Scotland, this was not true in the later Middle Ages.

Below is a rough timeline of the Scots language in Scotland (CSD, ix-xiii):

Spreading "beyond the south-east, first to other parts of southern Scotland, then in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries to eastern Scotland north of the Forth." Scots was also the language of the burghs (towns), which began to be founded in the 12th century.

"By the fourteenth century ... [Scots] had become the dominant spoken tongue of all ranks of Scots east and south of the Highland Line, except in Galloway". It also had become the language of the royal court. "From about this time, too, the same ... tongue was beginning to be used in Caithness, Orkney, and Shetland".

1100-1450

Early Scots

(In this period, Scots-speakers
themselves refer
to their language as Inglis.)

1450-1550

Early Middle Scots

(From the end of the
15th century [1494]
Scots-speakers begin
to refer to their language
as Scottis, although
Inglis is still used as well.)

Scots continued to spread further towards the Highland Line in the eastern Lowlands north of the Forth, and also spread into parts of Galloway in the southwest and along the eastern coast north of Inverness. Some upperclass and educated Highlanders spoke Scots as well as Gaelic

1550-1700

Late Middle Scots

Scots continued to spread further towards, and in some areas across, the Highland Line, and also further into Galloway.

1700 onwards

Modern Scots

At the start of the 18th century, Scots was spoken in all of the Lowlands and Northern Isles, except by many of the upper and educated classes (see below). Over the course of the 18th-20th centuries, the number of Scots speakers declined in favor of English, although still today some Lowland Scots speak both Scots and Scottish English.

Below is a rough timeline of the modern English language in Scotland (CSD, ix-xiii):

Date

Language

Where Spoken and by Whom

1600 onwards

Scottish English

In the 17th century, upperclass and educated Lowlanders increasingly spoke English rather than Scots. Upperclass and educated Highlanders increasingly spoke English in addition to or instead of Gaelic.

In the 18th century, the trend to speak Scottish English rather than Scots spread further into the middle classes. Increasing numbers of Highlanders also spoke English instead of Gaelic. These trends continued over the following centuries, with English displacing both Scots and Gaelic. Modernly nearly all Scots speak Scottish English, either as their only language or in addition to Scots or Gaelic.

Resources for Older Scots:

Jones, Charles, ed. The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1997. Order hardcover from Amazon.comOrder hardcover from Amazon.co.ukOrder from Amazon.com (unknown binding)
An excellent, comprehensive history of the Scots language. Written for an academic audience, so basic familiarity with linguistic concepts and terminology, such as IPA (International Phonetics Alphabet), is often assumed by the authors. But if you really want to know about Scots, this book is The Book.

Dictionary of the Scots Language. [cited 27 Mar 2004]. Available from http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/. (added 27 Mar 2004)
The DSL is a combination of the full text of the Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (DOST, which covers Scots to 1700) and the Scottish National Dictionary (SND, which covers modern Scots).

Craigie, William, A. J. Aitken, James A.C. Stevenson, Harry D. Watson, Margaret G. Dareau, and K. Lorna Pike, eds. A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue from the Twelfth Century to the End of the Seventeenth, founded on the collections of Sir William A. Craigie. 12 vols. Chicago (1-4), Aberdeen (5-7), Oxford (8-12): University of Chicago Press (1-4), Aberdeen University Press (5-7), Oxford University Press (8-12), 1931-2002.
Familiarly referred to as "DOST", this is the Scots language equivalent of the OED (Oxford English Dictionary); it includes dated earliest and illustrative example quotes of all known Scots words through 1700. (Oxford University Press started reprinting all volumes in 1993.) Note that "paperback" publications of DOST are actually sub-sections of the hardback volumes -- several paperback "parts" make up a single hardback volume.

Norse/Norn

Anglo-Norman French

Latin

General Linguistics

A knowledge of basic linguistic concepts and principles can be very helpful for learning about historical Scottish languages, but unfortunately formal linguistics is rarely taught outside of university linguistics departments. Below are some good web articles about basic linguistics aimed at a general audience -- they assume no prior study or knowledge of linguistic concepts or terminology.

Glossary

Highland Line

The Highland Line is essentially a geographic division between the main mountainous region (Highlands) and the non-mountainous region (Lowlands) of Scotland. Very roughly, it runs northeast from Dumbarton to Ballater and then northwest from Ballater to Nairn or Inverness. But the best way to get an appreciation of the geographic division into Highlands and Lowlands is to look at a map that clearly indicates higher elevations, such as the Coloured and Hillshaded LANDMAP DEM - Scotland at The Landmap Project. (To compare to the locations of named places, see Historical and Modern Maps.)

Scots

Scots is a language closely related to English. There are many terms, some more respected than others, used for the modern Scots language and/or specific dialects of Modern Scots, including "Broad Scots", "Lallans", "Lowland Scots", "Aberdonian", "Doric", "Glaswegian", and many others. In the 14th and 15th centuries, Scots speakers themselves called their language "Inglis", while in the 16th century they took to calling it "Scottis".

Some linguists consider Scots to be a separate language from English, others consider it a dialect of English. Since the categorization of independent language vs. dialect is a subjective one, there is no "one true answer". I choose to refer to Scots as a language for several reasons, including that I find it makes it easier to talk about and explain the linguistic situation in both modern and medieval Scotland.

Note that "Scots" has several other, more common, meanings in addition to referring to the Scots language, including, as an adjective, the meaning "Scottish" and, as a noun, the meaning "more than one Scottish person".

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